Divergence
by Kallie Jacobs
Summary: An AU retelling of DA:O. Kerrigan Cousland & Mina Surana...two women who are intimately familiar with the pain that comes with the loss of home & family start a journey to save Ferelden from all the mishaps that waited until the world was on the brink to emerge. Partially inspired by w0rdinista's "Hayloft AU" of AMWT. F!Cousland/Alistair, F!Amell/Leliana, past F!Cousland/Anders.
1. Kerrigan: Castle Cousland

**_Oh boy...I can't believe I'm actually posting this thing. _**

**_First thing first: Bioware owns all. I'm just borrowing everybody for a bit._**

**_The next order of business: This hasn't been beta'd in a very long time. I'm still not sure if I'm going to complete this but I thought since I've invested so much, I might as well let it see some light. Concrit is very much welcomed._**

**_When I said "Partially inspired by w0rdinista's AMWT "Hayloft AU"...well...the idea of Anders meeting the Warden before she became the Warden kind of stuck with me. My favorite mage will be making a guest appearance later and if the bug bites there might be a prequel to this whole adventure. And you should totally check out "A Midwinter's Thaw" over on LJ if you haven't already. It's an amazing AU (now) Epilogue to DA:O. _**

**_And now the ugly part: This started out as a joint project between me and my best friend back in 2011. I wrote the Kerrigan bits and she wrote the Mina parts and we were going to start round robin-ing the joint parts until the end. Well, two months and nearly 100 pages later, she up and decides she hates me. She gave me the fic and I let it sit...not really knowing what to do with it without her. Well, fuck it. Let's see what happens._**

**_~KJ_**

* * *

_I am seriously going to murder that dog, _Kerrigan thought groggily. She rolled over and rested her head on Dairren's shoulder. "Make him shut up," she whispered, molding her frame against his side.

"I tried to quiet him, but something in the hall seems to have him riled up," her lover whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Gorbash, so help me, if you wake Oren up again, I am going to _let_ Oriana skin you and turn you into a hat."

Dairren chuckled. "Mabari hats will be all the rage in Orlais next spring. You just wait."

The Mabari continued to bark and growl and the bedroom door. He scratched at the crack where the door met the floor and whined plaintively. He turned back to his mistress once and then continued his barking.

"Maybe you should let him out? He can see there's nothing there and we can all go back to sleep. He was probably dreaming about those rats in the larder."

Kerrigan groaned and tossed off the covers. "Sometimes, I think having a Mabari is more trouble than it's worth." She touched the large hound on his back, near the base of his head. "Is Dairren right, boy? Dreaming about rats? Hang on…"

In the shadows under the door, she could see several figures shifting in the torchlight. She could hear raised voices calling for her father. Her heart began to pound. Were they leaving so soon? In the dead of the night? Kerrigan frowned. That made little sense. What in the Maker's name was going on out there?

"Kerri, what's wrong?" Dairren asked, getting out of bed and coming to her side.

"I'm not sure. There are people out in the hall, but it's so late. I don't know what to do."

"Perhaps the rest of the Arl's men have arrived?"

"At this hour? No, they would have made camp and marched here at first light. Something's wrong." She worried her lower lip between her teeth. "Sod it." She went to her armor stand and started dressing. "I'm going out there."

Gorbash started up again. Dairren rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to let him out?"

She pulled on her boots and grabbed her daggers. "Yeah, let him out. Let them get a face full of blood-thirsty Mabari first."

Dairren chuckled. "Always looking for a fight, aren't you Kerri? It's one of the things I ad-"

The bedroom door burst open and an arrow seemed to appear from no where in Dairren's neck. Gorbash snarled and charged through the door and terrified scream let her know he'd found some one to gnaw on.

Two men came across the threshold; one armed with a wicked looking mace, the other twin daggers similar to hers. Kerrigan grinned as she first took care of the mace wielding opponent. He had been first through the door and hadn't seen her in the shadows. A quick slice across his throat and he was gurgling on the floor. She twisted and narrowly missed a backstab from a dagger. She danced with her foe, falling easily into the drills the arms master and beat into her. It was definitely different facing a live opponent rather than a controlled sparring session, but ultimately, Kerrigan was able to get the upper hand long enough for Gorbash to finish him off.

She cleaned her daggers on her bedspread and knelt at Dairren's side. His gentle brown eyes were wide with shock as he stared unseeing at the ceiling. Tears threatened to fall. _Later, _she thought. _I will mourn later when this__…__**madness**__ is over._ She placed a light kiss on her lover's forehead and closed his eyes. She glanced over at the man whose throat she cut and paused. She _knew_ that man! They had sparred yesterday! He was a soldier from Amaranthine! He had come here with Arl Howe!

"Where is the teryn!? You'd better open this door!"

She turned her attention to the three men standing outside her parents' bedroom door. She scooped up the dropped bow from the man who killed Dairren and knocked an arrow. She let fly and hit the archer in the back, bringing him down to one knee. Her war hound leapt into action, going for his throat. The remaining two were sword and shield warriors. Getting around their shields would prove difficult, but some how between the two of them, they were able to bring them down.

"Mother!?"

The door opened a crack. "Darling!" Elenore pushed the door wider. "Are you all right? Surely not all that blood is yours?"

Kerrigan embraced her mother. "I'm fine, Mother. Really."

"I heard the screams and barred the door. Have you seen your father? He never came to bed!"

"No, I was…a bit distracted. Mother, these are Amaranthine soldiers. These are Howe's men!"

The teryna looked down and her eyes grew wide. "You don't think Howe's men were delayed on purpose? That _bastard! _I'll cut his lying throat myself!"

"We need to find Father." Kerrigan handed her Mother her bow. She lifted a full quiver from the nearest soldier. "Come on. He's probably at the main gate."

Elenore gripped her daughter's arm. "We need to check on your brother's family. What if they went to their room first?"

"Oh, Maker, no…"

Kerrigan felt as if she were running through molasses as she made her way to the rooms her brother had lived in her whole life. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw her nephew laying in a pool of his own blood, the little wooden practice sword she had given him on his last name day clutched bravely in his hand. His mother lay near him, her throat cut, her gown covered in blood.

"No! My little Oren! What kind of monsters slaughters innocents!?" Elenore fell to her knees near her grandson's head. She gently closed his eyes and brushed his brown hair off his forehead.

"Howe is going to pay for this," Kerrigan vowed, her teeth clenched tight.

"Howe's not even taking hostages! He means to kill all of us! Let's go. I don't want to see this." She kissed her fingers and pressed them to Oren's forehead.

They fought their way to the main gate. Her mother had insisted they stop by the treasury to get the Cousland family sword. The long sword was now strapped awkwardly to Kerrigan's back, her daggers now in matching scabbards on her thighs.

The scene inside the main hall was chaotic. Rory Gilmore was leading a small force of her father's soldiers against even more of Howe's traitors. A crack of lightning near the main gate drew Kerri's attention.

"Mother! The mage!" she directed, rushing into the fray.

Elenore Cousland knocked an arrow and let it fly. The mage dropped, an arrow in her left eye, the fireball she had been casting scorched the floor at her feet.

When the last traitor fell, Ser Gilmore limped to their side.

"Ser Gilmore, have you seen my husband?" Elenore asked, her voice frightened. "We thought to find him here."

Rory shook his head. "When last I saw the teryn, he'd been badly wounded. He said he would meet you in the kitchens, at the servant's exit in the larder."

The main gate shuddered. The remaining soldiers, those that were able to stand, staggered to help hold the doors.

Ser Gilmore looked from the gate and back to Kerrigan. "My lady…Kerri, I-"

"Rory, hush," Kerrigan said gently. "This is not the end." She went up on her toes and kissed her best friend's cheek. "We'll get through this, I promise."

"Those gates won't hold much longer. You need to get to the larder and get out of here. Some one needs to tell King Cailan what happened here."

"Rory-"

"Now, Kerrigan!" He pushed her toward the door leading to the kitchens. He limped over to the gate and leant his weight to those holding the gates.

"Let's go, Darling. There's nothing more we can do here. Let's find your father and get out of here and tell the king."

"Maker watch over you, Rory!" Kerrigan called after him.

"Maker watch over us all."


	2. Mina: Ostagar

_The odd thing about life is that it just keeps going on, regardless of how anyone feels about it_, Mina thought, as she walked the grounds around Ostagar. How she came to be there still hurt a little. She felt friendless, betrayed, and so empty. Her whole life had been spent in the Circle Tower, and it had all been taken away from her in the most painful way possible. The only two people alive that she'd ever felt close to had betrayed her and then her recently won status as a Circle Mage was ripped away from her; her home and her family, gone in such a short time.

She would forever feel grateful that Duncan had been there to intervene on her behalf. Leaving her home had hurt, but she'd had some time since then to think about what life would be like in the tower now that Jowan was on the run and Cullen had betrayed her trust.

In her hand she carried the gift she'd given Alexa shortly before her Harrowing- a small stone carving of the three of them smiling together tucked inside a wooden box. Its rough exterior had smoothed considerably in the trip across Ferelden to Ostagar. In spite of everything, she didn't want to forget the happiness of her youth. She wondered, now, looking at these men preparing for war, when next she'd feel such joy.

She wondered if what the demons in the fade told her about Alexa was true. Could she really have given in to the Pride demon they kept in the bottle there? Could she really have willingly become an abomination? Or was it really just a way for the Templars to manipulate them, as Jowan claimed? And how could he have fallen into blood magic? Where could he have learned it, for one thing, and why?

But the thing that hurt the most was Cullen's part in the whole affair. He'd taken her suspicion of Jowan, whispered to him in confidence, and told the Templars. She hadn't spoken to him before she left. He'd been ready to strike her down at her Harrowing, and he'd told the Templars her secrets. But, as much as it hurt, she couldn't be angry. He was a slave to his duty, and loyalty to her wasn't an option. She'd been a fool to expect otherwise.

The navel gazing was fine in the Circle tower, but here at camp, it was less safe. Mina tripped, and was narrowly caught from falling face first into a nearby puddle by a young man with dark hair.

"Careful there, girl. You'll ruin your pretty dress." He lifted her clean off her feet, and set her down on them again. "Little one, aren't ya? What are you doin' in a warcamp?" A small smile was forming at the corners of his mouth.

"Thanks," Mina said, her voice a little husky from underuse. "I was killing a little time waiting for someone to arrive, is all."

"Really? Me too. Maybe we should kill it together. Strength in numbers an' all that." Mina laughed a little. "I'm Daveth. Soon-to-be Gray Warden Daveth, but right now, still just Daveth." He stuck his hand out to her. It was rough, and Mina noticed chafing around his wrist.

She took the offered hand and did her best to smile. A fellow Gray Warden? It would be nice to know one, she thought. "Pleased to meet you, Daveth. I'm Mina, formerly Circle Mage Mina, and soon-to-be Gray Warden Mina."

"Ah, so we're waitin' for the same person and have the same time to kill!" His smile grew wider as he pumped her hand up and down. "I'm waitin' for Duncan too." He let her hand go and looked over his shoulder. "There's another Grey Warden to-be around here somewhere, but once he found out I was a conscripted cut-purse, he decided he'd keep his own company." Daveth looked back at Mina. "Will you be wantin' to keep your own company too, Former Circle Mage Mina, or would you like to join me in a search for something to eat that hasn't been in a soldier's pocket for a month long march?"

Mina laughed again. It felt weird. It'd been a while. "I don't have a purse to cut, so I guess I'll stick with you. Maybe you can tell me a little more about this secret rite we have to do to join the Wardens." 

"I've only heard rumors, but ..."

They walked, and Daveth talked. Mina had to admit, it was good to have someone talking to her again. While she traveled with the magi to Ostagar, she'd kept to herself as much as possible. The magi were nosy and she didn't feel like having to face awkward questions about Jowan and her conscription. She'd endured quite enough of that when Alexa died.

Mina learned plenty about Daveth while they wandered the camp, which was just fine with her. She suspected that he'd noticed that she wasn't saying much, as the conversation wandered wildly from his hometown to the east to the legendary Gryphons his Brother Tavis claimed to have seen last year to the apostate mages that allegedly lived in the woods to the south.

Mina's ears perked up at the mention of these mages. Stories of apostates were scarce in the Tower.

"Witches of the Wilds, they call 'em. Evil mages that can turn into wolves and will turn you into a frog given half the chance! My Brother Tavis claimed he bedded one only 3 months ago-" Daveth stopped talking so quickly that Mina thought he'd vanished. When she looked around to him, he was blushing sheepishly. "Pardon, m'lady. Not a story I should be tellin' the likes of you. Thoughtless of me."

Mina grinned wolfishly. "Daveth, I'm no lady. Mages can inherit no lands or titles, remember? Besides, I lived in a tower full of people who had nothing to entertain them but boring old tomes about magic and each other. I could almost guarantee you that there is not much you could tell me that I haven't done, heard of, or seen illustrations of. I might could even teach your Tavis a thing or two."

Daveth's blush deepened while he tried to work out if she was joking or not. She let him guess. Suddenly he laughed. "Mina of the Circle Tower, you're just full of surprises."


End file.
